In May all of the woods are brightened with wild cherry trees in bloom. They were still blooming in the middle of this week but the blossoms are suddenly gone. In the fall the cherries attract bears who will gorge on them to prepare for hibernation. When clicked, these photos will open, full size, in a new window.
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My lilacs have finally begun to bloom, right on schedule, even though we had frosts for the last three nights. When clicked, these photos will open, full size, in a new window.
Before this fern was even a fiddlehead, I have been observing its growth. I'm not ready to venture what species of fern this is yet, but I am halfway to an identification. For now — here is the newly developed spore of this fern. In the second photo you can see the brown fuzz that covers the stalk. This is a fascinating fern and I look forward to posting its life cycle. When clicked, these photos will open, full size, in a new window.
 | EPITAPH Step lightly on this narrow spot! The broadest land that grows Is not so ample as the breast These emerald seams enclose. Step lofty; for this name is told As far as cannon dwell, Or flag subsist, or fame export Her deathless syllable. Emily Dickinson |
Our foremothers used this to scrub their pots and pans, giving field horsetail this name. In this photograph, taken behind my garage on Saturday, you see the brown fertile stem and the green sterile stem. In an earlier post I identified the green sterile stem as ground pine. I first saw these stems growing behind the garage when the guys were replacing my well pump. They put the old pump and pressure tank in my junk pile there. That is when I had my first inkling that my ground pine was horsetail because I knew that horsetail came in two versions.
Quietly the sun
One Single Impression or One Single ImpressionGood question! I'm sure you've googled; you'll get a lot of information if haven't and then do. But here's what I've learned about it so far:from the teach:
The kireji is a definite break in the haiku. Not just a pause like a comma would make in one complete sentence, but a full break or change so that the haiku is not one complete sentence in three lines. E.g., I believe in yours it would come after "woods." (BTW, you could leave out that dash, if you wanted, as it's clear there's a cut or break without it.)
Why is this kireji also often called "the cutting word"? Because (if I am recalling correctly) in Japanese there would be an actual word that creates this cut, this stop. In Japanese this cutting word/kireji has no meaning except as a sort of "stop sign" within a haiku (and there are various sorts of kireji). Whereas in English we don't need a word to indicate a stop, because our grammar itself indicates when a sentence or sentence fragment is done, over, stopped. Some haiku writers have used/do use dashes and colons to indicate the cut/kireji. But usually English grammar makes it just as clear without any extra punctuation.
Hope that was even a little helpful. Kireji is an extensive study, judging by the little bit of it I've dipped my toes into.
Yes you do understand the "cutting word," Andree! "field of trout lilies!" It's an exclamation at the end of a haiku - "I walk in the woods/earth black with seeping water/ --trout lilies!and from Crafty Green Poet:
A surprise, in your haiku you've come upon the trout lilies and it surprised you and us the readers...:D
My understanding is that the cutting word can't be directly translated, but instead in English is replaced by a dash at the end of the first or second line(like at the end of your first line) to separate the two parts of the haiku. - generally the image in the first part of the haiku makes a comparison or contrast with the image in the second part of the haiku. That's my understanding anyway!
Please forgive my indulgence for posting six photos. But I love these gentle creatures. These red-spotted salamanders (or newts?) were captured during the fifth and sixth grade aquatic insect and crustacean expedition (other creatures can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here — whew!). After the tramping, I sat with my Canon and experimented photographing into aquariums that held the specimens. I think the salamanders look so dinosaur-like when they swim. When clicked, these photos will open, full size, in a new window.
Camera Critters or the graphic above.
Last Saturday I put my barn boots on and walked across the road to the beaver bog to photograph the marsh marigolds (or cowslips) — the yellow you see in the photo above. This is not the part of the bog directly in front of my house, but a section to the east. The cowslips are spreading every year. In Europe, cowslip is a different flower. These flowers are native and are a member of the buttercup family.
Do you remember this bug from the aquatic insect and crustacean expedition? It's been identified by John & Jane Balaban at bugguide.net as Calopterygidae — the larva of a broad-winged damselfly. I have played liberally with the white balance in order to display features of the larva. The full-size photos will open in a new window when clicked. This has been cross-posted at my main blog, meeyauw.
This is one of my rhubarb plants (Vermont's first fruit of the season!) — a rhubarb that I don't like. I was told it is "Canadian rhubarb" and good for our cold weather. But it's yellow, spindly rhubarb. I have another plant that is red and lucious and I can cut right through October. The more I cut it the more it grows, unlike this yellow one. So when I saw this rhubarb was flowering, I decided to use it to learn what happens to rhubarb when it flowers. This is what it looks like this week. I like the color of the buds. The pattern of the buds is fascinating me, also. I'll be keeping an eye on it daily to photograph the developments. I found a good site for rhubarb information here, but I don't recognize this yellow rhubarb there. When clicked, these photos will open, full size, in a new window.
My second species of cultivated flower has bloomed. First daffodils, now the narcissus. Next should be lilacs in June. I love bulbs. Amy plants them and then they grow forever without any work. She tossed these bulbs on this thatchy hill behind the clothes posts. To tell the truth, I prefer wildflowers much more than cultivated ones. When clicked, this photo will open, full size, in a new window.
Odd Shots or the graphic on the left.
Sky Watch Friday
ABC Wednesday
Sunday Spire